The most important piece of knitting advice I ever found was in the Holiday ‘87 issue of Vogue Knitting.  (I must have found it while I was knitting those lousy boyfriend sweaters.)

A wonderful knitter wrote a letter to the editor which made a very strong impression on me, and it greatly influenced my knitting success.  In the spirit of the current topic over at Knitting Daily, this woman’s letter largely influenced how I became a "fearless knitter."

A word of advice to new knitters.  I learned to knit and purl at age six, so have spent 23 of my 29 years knitting like a maniac.   One of the first things I ever did was really STUDY knit and purl stitches.  Make a rather large swatch (stockinette stitch) with fairly large needles and an even yarn.  Don’t bind off, but remove knitting from needles, and practice losing and re-picking up stitches.  A clear understanding of how a stitch works and looks will allow errors to be easily repaired.  Remember, that all knitting is just that — knit and purl stitches.  You may change the order of the stitches (like with a cable), but it’s no more complicated than that.  Figure out those stitches, and a lot of headaches are over.

It’s more than 20 years later.  This woman can’t possibly know how much she did for me, and probably many other knitters, with that short but brilliant letter.  I offer her my heartfelt gratitude for my own lifetime of knitting happiness.

May the knitting deities smile on Susan forever, wherever she is — and happy 50th birthday, too!